cleaning my carpets on a regular basis

[Mark]

They are heavy when full but are on wheels. The Karcher is a lot easier to move around than the rug doctor as they are metal. With the Karcher, you get a special bucket that takes 7 or 8 litres - so that weighs 7 or 8 kilos. The machine weighs about double that. - it is bulky more than heavy - I pull it around by the hose  - you get a large attachment for large areas of carpet and a small one for stairs, fiddly bits and upholstery. I know some places includes an amount of shampoo but if they don't, best to buy from the link I gave - I have used them for 3 years and bought the machine from them (They also sell on ebay). My new lot of shampoo came today - I got 2 x 5L for about £24 including delivery. Although the name is the same, they have changed the shampoo and its nicer than the old one. You water in down 1:100 so I'm sure it will last me a couple of years. Most shamoos you get in the shops, ie Bissell are about 1:10 so work out expensive. The new one smells like advocaat 

[swampmaxmum]

thanks Mark. I've found my local laundrette hires out machines but it's going to be hard work lugging it up the stairs. Think I'll wait for a hot day too from what you say. How much would you say the thing weighs to move around once it's full? Can't buy one though as have nowhere to put it in the flat.

[Mark]

The problem with steaming is it doesn't actually remove anything from carpets or fabrics (It has to go somewhere  ) - OK on hard surfaces where you can wipe the muck off when it is softened. The best type for carpets (I think) is a spray/extraction machine. The Rug Doctor ones are like tanks though and not easy to manoeuvre. I have a Puzzi 100 that I bought for the B&B and they are great although still quite bulky and you need somewhere to store. One of our local dry cleaners hires them out for a day or weekend. You can buy a great shampoo here http://www.harrison.inuk.com/shampoo.htm to go in them - it is biocidal as well as cleans well. The spray/extract type sprays a solution deep into the pile and at the same time, sucks the dirty solution back into a separate tank. Surprising how much dirt comes out of a clean looking carpet.  - they say it takes 2 hours to dry but I found even on a hot day with all the windows open it takes 5 - 8 hours and even then, 24 to be totally dry.

I cleaned my stairs and landing yesterday and had to order more of the shampoo.

[swampmaxmum]

sadly no. I may try Asda (?). There's only an Asda and Sainsburys near here. I've not seen any hire stuff in Sainsburys.

[Dawn F]

our local hardware store hires them for £8 for half  a day, have you got anywhere like that??

[swampmaxmum]

just had a quote for my lounge (about 15m2) and 13 stairs up to my mezzanine and thin passageway of £55  I so love London! They say it takes 4 hours to dry too. Agree about the chemicals. I think I must find a fairly effective steam cleaner to buy.

[Dawn F]

I've used that vanish foam that you leave to dry and hoover with success but not sure how well it would work for a whole carpet

[blackcat]

the bad news is that any sort of cleaning process will a) leave you with damp carpets (how damp depends on how cheap the service is, I find), and b) will sound like a rocket taking off and will scare the living daylights out of the cats, so see if they can go visit a friend for the day. It will also involve possibly more chemicals than the Americans used in Vietnam, judging from the after-smell which is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy too perfumed and sickly for my taste. ... Sorry.

[swampmaxmum]

thanks for the quick replies! I've seen some ads for broom looking steam cleaners that dry fast (NB: I hate the smell of wet carpet) but no idea if they work well. They look more a hard floor type of thing. I use sebo powder and vanish...but vanish it doesn't    My carpets are synthetic and used to be light, beige coloured (now they are light beige with odd spots  ).

Yes the supermarket ones are a bit heavy. I live up 55 stairs too, so that's something else to think about. There seems to be a reasonably priced penguin looking hand held thing but suppose that's more spot cleaning - would go bonkers doing the lounge, not that it's big but too big for a hand held??
Are all the professional carpet cleaners' products safe for cats afterwards? I'm also worried with them not just about cost but noise. My neighbour downstairs just had her's done and it sounded like WW3 in this unsoundproofed converted house. Max hid under the bed and it wasn't even in this flat. He's terrified of even my little cylinder vacuum cleaner.

[blackcat]

tricky, as most of the rentable steamers are quite heavy, and even more so when full of water ... If you have a dodgy back then I would save up for the professionals ... It really is worth it. Bear in mind there is also a lot of furniture to shift around as well as the cleaning tool. If is was just smell I use a foam on cleaner on my oriental rug (which I can not get done professionally as the dyes are organic and run when subjected to water, but I find the foam ones do a good job of lifting the pile and getting rid of the smell of dog ...

[Gillian Harvey]

If poss, would like to get one that is easy to use and has good back up and spares service so probably not ebay. If it could do car seats as well that would be an added bonus as they are sordid beyond belief! Thanks for any advice.

What about hiring one? http://www.rugdoctor.co.uk/ - you can hire them from loads of supermarkets etc. Don't know how heavy they are to use, as havent got round to trying them yet - but its on my list to do LOL!

[swampmaxmum]

Like many of you, my carpets, rugs and hard floor bits get regularly puked on. I spot clean. However I'd like to steam clean all of them, but can't afford the fancier cleaners and wondered if anyone had any alternatives? It also can't be too heavy as I'm not supposed to carry around heavy weights (did you hear that Max lol  ) because of my back.
I can't get a steam clean co in every week either! The lounge carpet is usually the main target area and is starting to look really iffy.
If poss, would like to get one that is easy to use and has good back up and spares service so probably not ebay. If it could do car seats as well that would be an added bonus as they are sordid beyond belief! Thanks for any advice.